quote of the day

The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music, also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not play a sonata in order to reach the final chord, and if the meanings of things were simply in ends, composers would write nothing but finales.
--Alan Watts

quote of the day

There's a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side. Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig - an animal easily as intelligent as a dog - that becomes the Christmas ham.
--Michael Pollan

what i'm reading now

Once in a while I read a book that causes me to take a look at my world in a different way, to rethink my thinking. The Black Swan is such a book. In this book the author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, discusses the impact of the highly improbable. Here's a blurb from the cover:

"A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For the author, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives."

toward another goal

If you've been reading my blog for some time you know that one of the post-retirement goals I set for myself was to learn the piano. I learned the guitar when I was 17 and over the years I've been able to play a few rock-n-roll tunes and sing a ballad or two while accompanying myself on my 6 string. This weekend Dorothy, Kelly, and Karon went on a shopping trip to Branson, and among the goodies she brought home was a 61 key piano keyboard. Well, I sat down and started lessons immediately. I'm taking lessons online to learn piano theory and get acquainted with the layout of the keyboard, but I'm surprised at how quickly I'm picking up chords and melody. I can already play the tunes that I used to play on the guitar, although very slowly. On a guitar you can play chords or the melody but not both at the same time (unless you're Chet Atkins), but on the piano it's great to be able to play chords and melody together. For me playing the guitar was like traveling to Musicland over a twisting, turning trail through the forest, but on the piano I feel like I'm making the same trip on the autobahn.

happy halloween

What a scary witch Jenna makes

Power Ranger (Hunter), the wicked witch (Jenna), Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (Marley)

Trick or treating down town. Burk pushes Jenna while Marley and Tara walk along.

another absurdity of american life

A little over two years ago when I retired; the people at work gave me a party. My boss presented me with some service awards for 27 years of faithful service, and he made a speech bragging on my dependability and how I would be missed, blah, blah, blah. We had cake and ice cream. I walked away from the job with a modest pension and health insurance for life, a valuable reward for enduring the stress and strain of working for years and years at making a living.
Yesterday, there was a news story about the CEO of a major company who was fired for losing the company eight billion dollars. Where I worked if I had been responsible for the loss of as little as 100.00 because of my own negligence, or malfeasance, I would have been fired too. There would have been no pension, insurance, nada.
But, this person, who dropped 8 billion (Yes that's 8 followed by nine zeroes) into the abyss, walked away with a paycheck of 160 million dollars. Most people today think there is something amiss in America, and this is just one of the many things in our country that makes no sense. If a person is so talented and competent that he can earn his company billions of dollars in profit, then, OK, cut him a check for a few million. But, if that person causes a loss of 8 billion dollars, shouldn't he be held accountable? Jail may not be out of the question. What do the share holders think? If he's not going to be summoned to an inquisition to explain himself, maybe a talk show host should invite him to appear on their show for an interview. I would like to hear what he has to say. What was he doing when the dollars began to flow out the sluice gate?

jack'o'lantern

Marley is ready to carve pumpkins

Grandma shows Jenna how to remove the seeds and pulp but Jenna has doubts Hunter is reluctant to get pumpkin slime on his hands too.

While Marley is busy removing the pulp, Jenna is still not sure about putting her hand in there.

quote of the day

The head chief told us that there was not a family in that whole nation that had not a home of its own. There was not a pauper in that nation, and the nation did not owe a dollar. It built its own capitol, in which we had this examination, and built its schools and its hospitals. Yet the defect of the system was apparent. They have got as far as they can go, because they own their land in common. It is Henry George's system, and under that there is not enterprise to make your home any better than that of your neighbors. There is no selfishness, which is at the bottom of civilization. Til this people will consent to give up their lands, and divide them among their citizens so that each can own the land he cultivates, they will not make much more progress.

Senator Henry Dawes --speaking of the Cherokees at the Lake Mohonk Conference of the Friends of the Indians in 1883

weenies and marshmallows

We haven't had the younger grand kids down for a while so tonight all three of them came to spend the night. We built a fire under the maple tree and roasted some weenies for hot dogs and then blackened a few marshmallows in the flame. Then, we popped popcorn the old fashioned way, in a skillet. we haven't done those things in years and it was fun.

Grandma has a marshmallow for Jenna.

the arrival of fall

I know that fall officially arrived a month ago, but yesterday morning it made itself known . It started off with 38 degrees and frost on Dorothy's windshield. Today it cloudy and cold. I'll enjoy the chilly days until I'm forced to wear a coat outside, but, until then I'm sticking with shorts and a t-shirt.

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quote of the day

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
-- Robert Brault

senior survey

Yesterday, I received a report on The Attitudes of Seniors and Baby Boomers on Aging in Place. There were some interesting revelations about the concerns of Baby Boomers and their aged parents. The biggest concerns for the aging population are being able to maintain their independence and staying in their own homes as they get older. Very few of those surveyed received any financial help from their children, and both the parents and Baby Boomer children were satisfied with the level of involvement in each others lives.

This survey was conducted by Prince Market Research on behalf of Clarity, a company that offers products such as amplified telephones, and devices to enhance the sound of television for the aging and hearing impaired.

quote of the day

"The main effort of arranging your life should be to progressively reduce the amount of time required to decently maintain yourself so that you can have all the time you want for reading."
--Norman Rush

cherokee women

Dorothy is taking a class in Cherokee history. She was telling me some of the interesting things she learned yesterday. It seems Cherokee women had more control over their personal lives than women have today. In their culture, if a woman decided to end her marriage she simply packed her husband's belongings in a bundle and left it outside the lodge door. When her husband came home from work (hunting) and found his things, he knew it was over. Ending a marriage was the sole prerogative of the woman. A man could not walk away from the responsibility of providing for his wife and kids. A Cherokee woman would likely have at least three husbands during her lifetime. The first would be a young, sexually appealing warrior, who would take care of her physical needs and father her children. The second husband would be a good provider of material goods and economic security. And, finally, an older man for companionship in her old age. I hope I've been all three husbands in one for Dorothy. I don't ever want to see my suitcase sitting on the front porch.

fall walking

Lately, I've been doing my walking at Wal-mart to avoid the ragweed pollen, but this morning I was able to take a stroll around the pasture. It was recently mowed and on these cold mornings the ticks seem to be inactive. I wore shorts and a t-shirt so I had to walk at a brisk pace to keep warm against the cold wind. The brittle leaves were noisy in the trees. It's a good day to be alive.